PISD receives one-time windfall

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, February 5, 2009

Plainview public schools got a gift from the state recently when the district received a one-time reimbursement of $3.4 million.

Depending on the fate of the economic stimulus package currently under debate, the district could also receive some federal money in the future.

According to school Superintendent Dr. Ron Miller and District Director of Finances Rusty Ingram, the windfall from the state resulted from the realization that the Texas Education Agency threw state school districts a curve over the summer when it changed its funding formula in the middle of budget time.

Ingram explained that during the summer when school districts were putting together their budgets, the state required them to look at three different scenarios: Data related to the weighted average daily attendance in 2005-06 year before House Bill 1 was enacted, the 2006-07 school year data before HB-1 was enacted and the 2007-08 school year data after the legislation was enacted.

The district could take the highest of those three years for its base target revenue.

For PISD, that original figure was approximately $4,850 per student.

Ingram said that as he was wrapping up his budget for the 2008-09 school year, he took his results to a consultant in Lubbock to verify his numbers.

In the 45 minutes it took to make the drive, Ingram later learned, the state changed its formula and Plainview's total revenue per WADA dropped to $4,573.

The result was a $1.7 million shortfall that lead to some pretty significant cuts in order for the district to have a balanced budget. Each campus had to take a 10 percent cut in spending.

Ingram laughed as he explained that while the state rarely admits a mistake, it did in this case, acknowledge that districts were treated unfairly when the rules were changed on them at such a late date.

However, he continued, TEA has made it clear that districts know about the new formula now and should prepare future budgets accordingly.

While the district already has the money from the state, there is speculation that there could be some federal money on the horizon.

Miller said that there is a possibility the district could get some money from the economic stimulus package proposed by President Barack Obama and currently under debate in the U.S. Senate.

That money would be tied to Title 1 funding, special education funding and construction in 2009 and Title 1 and special education funding in 2010.

The problem is, Miller said, that the federal money would have some pretty significant strings attached. Money earmarked for Title 1 and special education cannot be spent on anything that could be used by students outside those programs. Miller explained that the district cannot just throw that money into the general budget to use as it pleases.

Ingram said the district also must be careful with how it spends the $3.4 million it received from the state. Administrators should not use it in a way that financial demands would fall back on the district in the future.

Ingram said that while there is some talk that the state could revise its funding formulas, there is no guarantee that will happen.

In the meantime, Miller said, he knows one thing he wants to do with that money.

"One of the things we'll have on this month's agenda is those 10 percent cuts," he said.